Thursday, February 14, 2008

More Waivers

Spring Training is starting up, which inevitably means we are going to hear about how Player X will probably make the team over Player Y because they are out of options. As I already showed, most players clear waivers anyways. What type of players don't? Is a player being claimed a big loss? Here's a list of every player I could find who was placed on outright waivers from late February through early April last year.

Yoel Hernandez Philadelphia 2/22/2007 Cleared
Lincoln Holdzkom Texas 3/10/2007 Cleared
Jason Stokes Florida 3/16/2007 Cleared
Jack Cust San Diego 3/17/2007 Cleared
Ben Hendrickson Milwaukee 3/18/2007 Cleared
Michael Restovich Washington 3/19/2007 Cleared
Bernie Castro Washington 3/19/2007 Cleared
Matt Roney Toronto 3/22/2007 Cleared
JD Closser Colorado 3/22/2007 Cleared
Sean Tracey Chicago White Sox 3/23/2007 Baltimore
Chris Narveson St. Louis 3/24/2007 Cleared
Bobby Crosby Cincinnati 3/24/2007 Cleared
Jonathan Johnson Atlanta 3/24/2007 Cleared
Tim Redding Washington 3/25/2007 Cleared
Billy Traber Washington 3/25/2007 Cleared
Jermaine Van Buren Washington 3/25/2007 Cleared
Rick Bauer Texas 3/26/2007 Cleared
Marino Salas Milwaukee 3/26/2007 Cleared
Charlton Jimerson Houston 3/26/2007 Cleared
Ezequiel Astacio Houston 3/26/2007 Texas
Jeff Salazar Colorado 3/26/2007 Arizona
Adam Donachie Kansas City 3/26/2007 Cleared
Mike Rivera Milwaukee 3/27/2007 Cleared
Grant Balfour Milwaukee 3/27/2007 Cleared
Luis Terrero Chicago White Sox 3/27/2007 Cleared
Scott Dohmann Tampa Bay 3/28/2007 Cleared
Kenny Ray Kansas City 3/28/2007 Cleared
David Krynzel Arizona 3/29/2007 Cleared
Brian Tallet Toronto 3/29/2007 Cleared
JD Durbin Minnesota 3/29/2007 Arizona
Alexis Gomez Colorado 3/30/2007 Cleared
Andy Phillips New York Yankees 3/30/2007 Cleared
Jon Adkins New York Mets 3/30/2007 Cleared
Merkin Valdez San Francisco 3/30/2007 Cleared
Dustin McGowen Toronto 3/30/2007 Cleared
Ezequiel Astacio Texas 3/31/2007 Cleared
Marlon Byrd Texas 3/31/2007 Cleared
Guillermo Quiroz Texas 3/31/2007 Cleared
Francisco Cruceta Texas 3/31/2007 Cleared
Adam Fox Texas 3/31/2007 Cleared
Andrew Brown San Diego 3/31/2007 Cleared
Justin Germano San Diego 3/31/2007 Cleared
Michael Garciaparra Seattle 4/1/2007 Philadelphia
Antonio Perez Oakland 4/1/2007 Cleared
Todd Williams Baltimore 4/1/2007 Cleared
JD Durbin Arizona 4/5/2007 Boston
Simon Ferrer Colorado 4/6/2007 Cleared

That's 47 players placed on outright waivers last spring training, with 41 clearing. That's 87.2% of players who could not make the roster making it through waivers without a problem. On top of that, what has happened to those players who were claimed?

Sean Tracey is best known as the pitcher who Ozzie Guillen called out for not throwing at a hitter. He wasn't even out of options last spring, so the White Sox were simply trying to clear room on the 40 man roster for somebody. He was then claimed by Baltimore, who eventually removed him after getting injured and struggling in the minors.

Texas claimed Ezequiel Astacio off waivers from Houston. Out of options, the Rangers also had to send him through waivers, where he cleared and put up a 5.5 ERA in AAA Oklahoma over the course of the season.

Jeff Salazar still had an option remaining, so he was claimed when he didn't have to be sent through waivers. Still, as a fourth outfielder at best, the Rockies didn't miss much from losing him.

J.D. Durbin is the most interesting of all of these guys. Ranked as the Twins' #10 prospect last year, injuries forced Durbin into running out of options in the spring. Not making the Twins roster, he was claimed off waivers by Arizona (8th priority). Arizona then tried to slip him through waivers, where he was claimed by Boston (20th priority). Boston, also without room on the roster for Durbin, put him on waivers, where he was claimed by Philadelphia (18th priority). Philadelphia, in what must have been a tumultuous few weeks for Durbin, pushed him through waivers, this time clearing. You could make the case that Durbin was lost as a result of being out of options, but the the Twins were truly serious about wanting him, they could have claimed him when Philadelphia put him out there. Durbin eventually put up an ERA north of 6 with meddling ratios in 65 innings of work as a swing man. This is not a move the Twins will end up regretting.

Michael Garciaparra was claimed by Philadelphia. In addition to being the latest to come down with Billy Ripken Syndrome, Garciaparra still had three option years remaining, and put up pathetic numbers across three levels last year before being moved off the roster.

In conclusion, two players who were out of options were claimed off waivers last Spring. Both cleared waivers within a month after being claimed. The amount of options a player has left should not be considered in whether or not he makes a roster.

No comments: